


A Hero for Peace

by Spyden



Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Tetsuwan Atom | Astro Boy
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-05-23 13:45:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14935409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spyden/pseuds/Spyden
Summary: "Months have passed since Darkseid and Lex Luthor disappeared from Metropolis.  The world hasn’t stopped needing saving, but the threats could never match the level of those within the past few years.  To be frank, a robot kid falling out of a wormhole that wasn’t associated with Apokolips or the gods is easily the most interesting thing that has happened since Lex Luthor saved the world."Post JLU.  Astro Boy based on the 2003 anime, though with some alterations based on the Manga.





	1. Prologue

An alarm sounds in the bridge of the Watchtower, “Warning, inter-dimensional wormhole opening in Crux sector: -60 degrees, 12.5h.” The computer starts to repeat itself, prompting Mr. Terrific to silence the voice. Pressing a few keys, the main screen opens over the main window with 6 different views of Earth’s upper atmosphere and onward. On all of them is empty space. Seconds later, the space seems to warp before a swirling dark blue light appears.

“This doesn’t look like Boom Tube technology…”

Mr. Terrific’s comlink picks up a signal from one of the employees on the lower floor, “Mr. Terrific, something is coming through the wormhole.” The scans come up onto his screen of the energy levels.

“Green Lantern, Captain Atom, Dr. Light report to the teleportation bay immediately.”

Green Lantern answers through the comlink, “What’s the situation?”

“There’s a wormhole opening on the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. We’re picking up massive amounts of energy coming from something that is traveling through it. You and your team are our first response.”

Green Lantern enters the bridge, followed by Captain Atom and Dr. Light, who all step on the teleporter and disappear. Mr. Terrific confirms their successful teleport by their location when he is interrupted by an employee’s shout, “Sir!”

Mr. Terrific turns his attention back to the screen to see an explosion rip its way out of the wormhole. As debris scatters from the ball of fire, he calls “John, what’s your status?”

“We’re fine, got a shield up in…what?” a pause. “Keep the explosion contained!”

“John what is happening?” Mr. Terrific sees him on the screen speeding towards Earth.

“No Time!”

“John? John!” Mr. Terrific calls out, “Get me a visual on what Green Lantern is after.” He watches the screen shift as it zooms in on Green Lantern’s position. John races to a small object flying ahead of him, a pale shade against the darker hues of the upper atmosphere. Mr. Terrific zooms in on the object.

“Is that…a child?”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

John Stewart has seen plenty of strange events in his life. From his days as a marine and being in dangerous scenarios, to his days as a member of the Green Lantern Corps, which brought a host of otherworldly happenings to his extensive resume, to which the Justice League has only added to. He’s been a kid again, he’s traveled through time forward and seen his son and backward almost to creation. He’s met intelligent gorillas in their hidden city, been on trial for destroying a planet, fought countless monstrous creatures and performed even more rescue missions.

Upon seeing the child falling from an exploding wormhole toward the earth, he had already directed his will to save the boy. There wasn’t a moment where he dwelt on the impossibility of the situation; he had seen something like this before.

As he catches up to the falling child, and notices that the boy doesn’t have any protective equipment or energy around him, much less any clothing at all (strangely, only red boots a green belt and… black briefs?). He presses his will further, knowing that he has even less time. If he was any less concentrated on accelerating, he would have heard Mr. Terrific through his comlink. As it is, John is finding that this rescue is forcing him to his limits in speed.

“I need more…he’s going to be torn to shreds if he doesn’t burn up first…I need more speed!” 

Forming elaborate shapes has never been a forte of his, unlike some of his comrades in arms. Why make a green gun to shoot a green bullet if you can skip the middle man and just fire the green bullet? But this has never meant that he couldn’t make constructs as his will dictated. 

Noting that he will have to recharge his ring after this sudden rescue, he forms a simple rocket around himself. The thrusters kick in, as the windshield protects against the atmosphere. Closing the distance between them, he sees the red lines of heat around the boy’s body.

He has seconds.

He doesn’t stop to think whether the kid is even alive or not. He does push his ring to even greater power, reaching a speed that could match Superman’s (when he wasn’t trying, that is). However, the explosion the boy was thrown out of rockets the boy well beyond terminal velocity. John knows that the atmosphere is slowing the boy down in this case, which is thankful for, but that doesn’t change the fact that entering the atmosphere unprotected is something only a few heroes can do. John isn’t moving more than five miles per hour faster, forcing him to keep on the pressure. 

He catches up to the child, brings him into the small shuttle and then proceeds to work on the next step: slowing down. At this point John realizes just how fast they are going, and that he’s now fighting gravity and inertia with a weakened power ring.

He shifts the thrusters to point to earth, and prays that his ring can hold out. Space disappears behind the blue sky. The ground rises to meet them, he recognizes Australia and keeps pushing to stop falling. His ring begins to flicker.

“Just a little more.” John says through clenched teeth. He cuts off the thrusters, shifting the remaining power of his ring to shielding himself and the boy. 

The two smash into the Australian plains, John’s green shield dissipating with the dust after the impact, the green glow in his eyes subsiding.

John groans, “That was a little close…hey kid! Kid!” Still holding the unresponsive boy, John checks for a pulse. He frowns, “Was I too late? Or were you already dead before that?” He sets the boy on the ground and stands to call Mr. Terrific when he stops.

He looks again at the child. The black briefs do not look exactly as they would on any other child with that physique…it is almost like they aren’t made of fabric. The green band around his waist seems too close fitting to be a belt; in fact it couldn’t be any normal piece of clothing at all. The red boots could just fit snugly, but there isn’t a single crease or wrinkle on them at all.

Mr. Terrific snaps him out of his observations, “John, what’s your status?”

“Unharmed but out of juice. I think we should take a closer look at this kid though. Something seems…off.”

“My scan’s only picking you up John, is the kid alive?”

“That would be the question.” The boy’s hair is perfect, and when John picks him up, he realizes that it isn’t hair at all. His skin isn’t porous, and other than a few scuffs of dirt, shows no sign of any damage. “I’m ready.”

The next moment John is back on the watchtower, where Mr. Terrific greets him. “Glad you made it. So, this is him, huh?” John doesn’t respond as Mr. Terrific stares at the child for a few seconds. “You’re right, this is strange.” He motions over to two employees behind him holding a stretcher, “You go and recharge, John, we’ll be sure to look into this.” John places the boy on the stretcher and nods, going back to the teleporter to go home.

Mr. Terrific tells the two, “Take him to the mechanical repair bay and stay there until The Atom arrives.” They nod and leave. Mr. Terrific says through his comlink, “Excuse me Ray, do you have a moment?”

“Currently tweaking some nanomachines I’ve been working on, but what’s the issue?”

“We need your expertise on something we just found. It’s heading to the MRB right now. Contact me when you get there.”

“Sure thing Mr. T.”

Mr. Terrific frowns, having never been fond of the nickname, and returns to his place as monitor of the Watchtower. He sighs, months have passed since Darkseid and Lex Luthor disappeared from Metropolis. The world hasn’t stopped needing saving, but the threats could never match the level of those within the past few years. Seeing the various heroes on missions throughout the world and beyond, the fact that Green Lantern was in the Watchtower at all speaks to the low volume of calls requesting for attention. Even some of today’s “missions” were simple public appearances, presence in diplomatic talks (Not all of which dealt with Earthly nations), parades, and the like. To be frank, a robot kid falling out of a wormhole that wasn’t associated with Apokolypse or the gods is easily the most interesting thing that has happened since Lex Luthor saved the world.

Ray Palmer calls him, “I’m here Mr. T, what’s the story?”

He catches him up to the events that have happened, and then continues, “We just need you to check to see if this thing is dangerous, if it can be activated, destroyed, etcetera.”

“You need a professional opinion? I’m here to help. Check back in every couple of hours, I can tell I’m going to have a lot to say.” The Atom replies. Mr. Terrific can hear the excitement of the scientist.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The Atom climbs out of the robot boy’s chest compartment, the only easily accessible entry point for the scientist to study the mysterious construct. He had run multiple scans of the robot before entering and noticed that, with few other entry points, there must either be a rather advanced auto-repair system, or whoever maintains this robot must have highly advanced technology. Luckily, he can shrink to explore what he is afraid to break.

And this robot is already in bad shape. What’s more, the small parts that he had found broken were not as frail as he had thought they would be, some of the metal being unlike anything he had seen before. He’d have to analyze the alloy and its properties later.

He walks over to retrieve his tool bag, along with a few raw materials for recognizable parts when Mr. Terrific checks in on the video screen. “How’s it coming along, Ray?”

“This is one heck of a robot, that’s for sure. Whoever built this kid is a genius, maybe even a little crazy with the number of intricate parts in here. He’s damaged though. I’m going to try my best to get him activated, but without having any schematics on the robot or on the parts themselves, not to mention what some of them are made of, I’m just going to have to rebuild them by close observation of the original, or leave them alone and hope they aren’t too essential; though until the robot is activated it will be difficult to determine the parts’ functions. Seriously, take a look at this.”

Ray sends a picture of a large room lined with hexagonal mirrors of varying sizes. “I took this when I was exploring around. This is in the head. It was nearly pitch black, so the light you see is from my flashlight. Some of the mirrors were not as reflective as others and some were cracked or damaged.”

“Is this what I think it is?”

“If your hunch is that this is a brain, then yes, that’s what I think too. Which is why I’m not touching this place at all until I can get some feedback from this kid.”

“So you think it is safe enough to activate then?”

“I wouldn’t say that exactly…” Ray starts, earning a stern look from Mr. Terrific. “This technology is phenomenal, the design is pure genius, I HAVE to see this boy in action.”

“Ray, it’s a robot, that usually means something dangerous around here. I’m not going to have a weapon rampaging through the Watchtower.”

“Wait a minute, Mr. T, have a little faith in me. First off, from what I’ve seen so far, this ‘bot takes quite a bit of energy to run at full capacity, and as I said before, he’s pretty beat up. I’m not going to repair him fully until we can determine him to be non-threatening. And Two, If my hunch is correct, based on the structure of the ‘brain’ that I showed you, along with the system of sensors that looks oddly like a nervous system, plus the heart-shaped power core, then we’re dealing with a highly advanced form of A.I. here. One that can sense things and maybe even learn.”  
“So you’re saying that it could be smart enough to trick us…”

Ray cuts his train of thought and doesn’t have a reply.

Mr. Terrific sighs, “Just be careful, Ray. I’m interested too, but don’t let that enthusiasm cloud your judgment.”

“Right.”

“Good Luck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has been sitting unfinished on my hard-drive for long enough! Don't know how far I'll go, but your feedback will only help. Thank you for your time.


	2. Dr. Palmer

Two more hours would pass, then two more, then many more hours as Ray continued to explore and repair the robot boy. The longer he worked, the more dedicated he became to reactivating this very special machine.

Ray fiddles with some equipment as he talks to Mr. Terrific, “I need you to reroute all the energy for the Watchtower to the MRB.”

“You know I can’t do that, Ray.”

“Can you at least send me what you can? I need to send a shock through this kid’s systems. I’ve tried every other way I know of to restart him and I’m kind of out of options.”

“So you think shocking with all the power of the Watchtower is the answer.”

“All right, you know how defibrillators send a shock through the human body, particularly the heart, to restart it after it has stopped, correct?” Mr. Terrific nods, “That only works because the body runs on electrical energy, not much of it mind you, but enough, but you need to send in more than the body actually uses to jump-start it.” Ray gestures to the boy on the table, “But this kid runs on more energy than I have access to here in the MRB. I’m getting some reactions from minor systems responding to the power, but without the power core running, that energy dissipates too quickly.”

“Enough, Atom, I get it. You’ve made your point.” Mr. Terrific thinks for a moment, “I’m going to have to send out a message that the Watchtower will be shutting down for a few minutes. And I’m not giving you the whole station, just the parts of it that can safely run without power for a period of time, got it?”

“Thank you.” Ray bows, “You won’t regret it.”

“I certainly hope not.”

-x-x-x-x-x-

Two hours later and Ray Palmer is ready to start. The wires are connected correctly, he has triple checked all of them to ensure that they are secured. He goes over his procedure once more when the door opens to reveal a familiar red-and-blue caped hero.

“You look excited as ever, Ray.”

“I’m more nervous than anything, Clark. This is my last resort option. If this fails then we simply don’t have the means to get this kid working again.”

Superman walks over to the table where the boy lies. “So this is the robot I’ve heard about. It’s uncanny how human he looks, and yet you can just tell that he’s not.”

“It’s more than that.”

“How’s so?”

“I’ve spent the last twenty hours learning everything I could about this kid. The more I found, the more I became convinced of a strange thing.” Ray looks up from his notes to the sleeping boy. “That I wasn’t trying to turn on a robot, but that I was trying to bring back a child from the dead.” He chuckles, “I mean seriously, I’m even trying the Frankenstein method of shock-it-and-hope-it-moves…”

Superman walks over and puts a hand on The Atom’s shoulder, “If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you were tired and overthinking things, staying up more than 20 hours probably isn’t helping. But I hope you succeed, Ray.”

Mr. Terrific appears on the screen, “All right Ray; we’re all ready when you are. I hope you don’t mind I asked Superman to act as your backup should anything go haywire.”

“I appreciate it. I’ll tell you when to start rerouting the power. After that point, you won’t have to do anything else.” Ray walks away from the screen and starts his checklist, making sure everything is calibrated correctly one last time. Two minutes later he calls, “Alright, Mr. T, reroute power in 3..2..1, Now!” 

The screen and the lights go dead, but the room is soon filled with electric light arcing around the table that the boy is still lying on. Superman moves partly in front of Ray as he watches various energy levels rise and bodily systems react to the incoming energy. “Come on, kid.” Ray notes that he’s giving everything he can, “come on…wake up!”

Just as Ray notes a good reading on the monitor, a surge of electricity runs into the room and into the boy. In a flash of light, the monitors burst and the room goes dark, save for a faint glow coming from the robot.

Clark and Ray stare at the glowing child, waiting.

Then the alarm starts blaring. Mr. Terrific’s voice calls into the room, “Atom, I’m going to assume that was an accident, but this station is now running on our last reserve of emergency power. Superman, we’re dropping out of orbit, and you’re the only space-worthy muscle we have. Atom, I need your help getting our systems back online.”

“On my way.” Superman replies and starts toward the door with The Atom behind him when the doctor hears a sound. A groan.

Ray turns and goes back to the table to see the robot twitching irregularly before an arm moves smoothly to place its hand on its own head. To Ray, the sound of the alarm dulls as he focuses his attention on the robot, who pulls itself into a sitting position. The voice that comes from the robot does not sound synthetic, and reminds him of a young boy just entering his teens; not as high as a child’s, but still too high for any mature male.

Ray recognizes the first utterance of the robot as being Japanese. Ray starts in English, “Welcome back.”

“Ah..” the robot responds, pauses, then remarkably continues in English, “Who…are you?”

“I am Dr. Ray Palmer, though a lot of folks around here call me The Atom.” As he replies, the boy, for he acts more and more like one as time passes, looks around the dark room. The room lurches, forcing the two to brace themselves to keep from falling.

“What’s going on?” The boy asks. Ray notes the urgent but not fearful tone.

“I’ll explain on the way, can you run?”

The boy slides off the table and lands on his feet. “Uh,” He tests each leg, “I think so.”

“Alright,” Ray holds out his hand, “We’re heading to the Central Power Core.” The boy takes it and is nearly dragged along by the man as they dash out the door, “We’re currently on a space station called the Watchtower. It’s a defensive base of operations for Earth as well as a hub for the Justice League.” The two enter an emergency elevator and head up, “The Justice League is an organization of superpowered people who fight for world peace and security. That means we help out not only with disputes on Earth, but also for alien civilizations as well.”

They exit the elevator and keep running, “So you’re a member of this league?”

“Officially, yes. I’m more of a support guy. Making sure that this space station keeps working and other tech research.”

“So you’re the one who fixed me.”

“Fixing. I’m not finished, so don’t thank me yet.” He stops in front of a large door, “Here we are.” They walk in and Ray calls into the room, “Alright Mr. T, we’re here. Anything I should know before I get started?”

Mr. Terrific calls into the room, “Standard Priority: Oxygen and Air Pressure, Communications, and then level 1 power output. You have about five minutes before the emergency power fails.”  
“On it.”

“And Ray?”

“Yeah?”

“Just got a call. A certain benefactor is not pleased that the Watchtower is about to go dead in space. He wants an explanation.”

Ray tenses, then replies, “Thanks for the heads up.” He turns to the robot boy, “So, what’s your name, anyway?” The boy begins to answer but then stops. Ray continues, “You can tell me whenever you’re ready, kid. How much do you know about machines?”

“That depends…”

“I’m going to need your help getting these systems back up and running. If you can follow instructions, you’ll be just fine.”

“Okay.” The boy nods.

“Let’s get started!”

And so they did, with Ray leading the boy through the many steps required to repair and reboot the air control system. Ray does not take long to realize that the robot can understand technical terms much more easily than any human boy his age, and gives more complex directions as the minutes pass. In less than ten minutes, the power to the air control system is back online, and the two move on to fixing the communication functions. Fifteen minutes later and all the eyes and ears of the Watchtower were back, prompting a call from Mr. Terrific.

“Seems like everything is going pretty smoothly. You’re working at record pace, Ray.”

“Well, I’ve got a great helper. It’s like having 4 hands, only this guy’s got lasers in his fingers.”

“Wait, you mean…”

“Hey kid, I want you to meet someone.”

“Just a moment Dr. Palmer!” The boy calls from inside a module. Soon enough the robot crawls out of the small opening into the computer and stands next to Ray and the video screen. “Hello.” The boy bows, “I hope I haven’t caused too much trouble.” Ray smiles at Mr. Terrific’s expression.

“I’m impressed Ray, though I doubt that it will do much to assuage the Bat’s anger.”

“Yeah, I know. You remember the mirror room I showed you before?”

“Yes.”

“Well, it seems that it at least serves as a memory bank of sorts. The kid definitely has an incredibly advanced A.I., but the damage he took from whatever happened has kept him from remembering much. So I don’t know if he has a name or what, but I’ve gotta say,” he takes another look at the boy, paying close attention to the conversation, “I don’t think he’s dangerous.” Then he shakes his head, “But where are my manners? Kid, this is Mr. Terrific, he’s the head monitor here on the Watchtower. He’s in charge of overseeing everything that goes on throughout the area and decides which Justice League members to send where. Things would be much more chaotic without him around.”

The boy bows again, “It is nice to meet you, Mr. Terrific.”

Mr. Terrific laughs, “The pleasure is all mine. You two keep up the good work.”

“We’ll have Level One power within the hour.” Ray responds. Mr. Terrific nods and the screen goes blank. He turns again to the boy, “Well, we’re almost done. Ready to go?”

“Of course!” The boy replies with a jump and a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.


	3. For Want of Trust

Mr. Terrific calls to Superman, who is currently still holding the space station in orbit, “Just a few more minutes, Superman.  We’re nearly finished.”

“No worries, take the time you need.”

“I appreciate it.”  Mr. Terrific ends the call and goes back to scanning the Watchtower for what needs maintenance.

A baritone voice cuts through Mr. Terrific’s concentration, “Mr. Terrific.”  The voice of a very serious man. 

He turns from the screens, “Hello, Batman.” Had Mr. Terrific been a little quicker on the draw he may have added more, but the Dark Knight was not in the mood for niceties.

“Care to explain how the Watchtower's reactors failed so completely that it threatened to fall out of orbit?”

“You’ll have to talk to The Atom for more specifics, but as far as I can tell, it was an…unforeseen consequence.”

“I know that you’re not stupid enough to reroute the Watchtower’s power output to any one place.”

“You are correct, and I didn’t reroute the Watchtower’s power.  I redirected some of the energy from non-essential systems to the MRB.  As for why more power was somehow routed there to the point of draining the Watchtower, you’ll have to discuss that with The Atom, as I said.  He requested the shift for a project I had assigned to him and I granted it. While I apologize for being the facilitator of a blackout, I do not regret my decision.”

Batman stares for a few moments before asking, “Where is The Atom?”

“Currently at the central power unit.”

The Dark Knight nods and walks to the elevator.  Mr. Terrific turns back to his duties. 

-x-x-x-

Batman walks into the central power unit just as the power flips back on.  He hears Ray inside cheer, “We’re back online, Nicely done!” A boy responds, though muffled, “Thank you, Dr. Palmer.  I’ll do some final checks on the connections here.” Rounding a piece of machinery, Batman comes upon the scientist and waits.

The Atom turns and jumps, “Oh, Hello Batman.  How are you?”

He doesn’t reply, his jaw set.

The Atom sighs, “I assume you’d like to cut to the quick, as they say.” He turns and calls, “Hey kid, could you come out for a moment?  There’s someone else here I’d like you to meet.” A few clangs later and the boy crawls out of the computer unit. “Kid, this is the Batman, one of the founding members of the Justice League.”  Batman looks down on the boy—who isn’t quite human, a robot? Batman also doesn’t see a trace of fear in the robot boy’s face.

The robot boy bows, “It’s an honor to meet you Mr. Batman.  I would tell you my name but,” He pauses to scratch his head, “I’m having some trouble remembering a few things.”

Batman turns his attention back to Dr. Palmer.  “I’m assuming this is what came through the wormhole that opened yesterday?”

“That’s right,” Ray knows better than to be shocked that Batman already made the connection, “I’ve been working on him for a while now.  He’s really something.”

“I’m glad we answered  _ that _ question.” The robot boy does not think the Batman sounds glad.  He then turns to the robot, “And how convenient that your memory is failing you.” Then, addressing Ray once more; “Bring him to the bridge in twenty minutes.  And Ray…don’t lose your head.”

The Batman leaves the room, leaving the Atom shaking his head with a sigh.  The robot boy looks up to the doctor, “Did I do something wrong?”

Ray puts a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “Chances are, no.  But Batman doesn’t like to leave anything to chance if he can help it. Come on; let’s give you a last check up before you go.”

The two walk back to the MRB.  Dr. Palmer continues to run diagnostics of the Watchtower, allowing the boy some time to think as they walked along the metal corridors.  Recalling the Batman’s cowl and his firm demeanor, flashes of another person come to his mind. A golden visor, a winged helmet.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Twenty two minutes later, and the robot boy finds himself in a plain room with a table and two chairs and a series of screens on the back wall, having been led there by Dr. Palmer at Batman’s instruction.  The Batman himself stands in front of a series of screens. They play and replay the wormhole opening, the explosion and the boy’s own descent with Green Lantern giving chase. The Robot Boy begins to walk forward to join him when he speaks.  His voice is strong, filled with conviction.

“You’ve taken quite a beating.” The tone somehow lacks the emotion that normally should accompany such a statement.  The boy stops advancing, the command that the Batman’s voice holds gives him an air of power. The boy feels he is not welcome here, not yet.  “Surviving an explosion from a rather large transport.” A pause, then Batman turns to face the boy, his face serious and darkened by the light of the screens behind him.  “The level of nuclear energy, combined with the level of the toxic chemicals and compounds, would be enough to make at least a third of the planet a desolate wasteland for centuries.”  Batman advances until he is in front of the robot, towering over the boy, “and you were on that transport.”

The boy could feel his electronic brain struggling to repair itself, to bring forth some memory of the past few days.  How did he get into the wormhole in the first place? If it was a transport, were there other people on board? Was he traveling with them or trying to stop them?  No, he wouldn’t have resorted to destroying the ship. But then what caused the explosion?  And how does he know that he didn't cause it? The boy stops himself from bringing a hand up to his head, keeping his stare locked on Batman, as his head races to find answers to all the questions piling up.  He needed something, ANYthing that would prove to the man in front of him that he wasn’t a threat.

Then blue eyes flash in his mind, a sword gleaming red.  The boy breaks his stare from Batman and walks to the screens.  He sees the wormhole and explosion, sees an image of the earth on a different screen, along with other windows with coordinates and details of various emergency calls and threats.  The planet, he notices, is familiar geographically speaking, egging his memory on even more.

The boy starts, quietly, “You’re just trying to protect them.”  He turns to face Batman again, only to find him closer than he anticipated.  He’ll have to keep his senses sharp around this man. “Dr. Palmer…”  _ The Atom,  _ the boy reminds himself, “…He said that you were one of the founding members of the Justice League; dedicated to protecting the world and helping those in need.”

When Batman does not reply, the boy continues, keeping his tone even, “I can’t tell you why I’m here, since I’m still trying to piece that together myself.  But I won’t…” He stops, staring into the eyes of the Batman, then lowers his eyes to man’s feet. “You don’t trust me. And I…can’t give you a reason why you should.”  The two fall into silence.

_ Robots can’t be trusted! _ The thought returns to the boy’s mind.   _ They’re too dangerous.   _

_ They’d be better off deactivated.  _

_ It’s only a matter of time before they turn on us… _

The image of a man with white hair and a large nose appears, saying,  _ “Atom, You must remember that robots are meant to help humans, never to hurt them.  You have been given a great gift in Kokoro, giving you the chance to feel and think for yourself.  But this also gives you the ability to do as you please, to harm other humans or to fend only for yourself.  You must choose the right path, for the world is looking to see what you do.” _

__ _ “How do I know which is the right path?” _ He hears himself answer.

The boy straightens, meeting Batman’s eyes once more, his voice rising with passion.  “Always hold the dignity of human life as first in your heart.” Batman raises an eyebrow at the outburst of the boy.  “They have the same gifts of free will and reason as you do. You have the power to deny them that but you do not have the right.  If you can remember to respect humanity, then no one will be able to reasonably hold anything against you.” The boy blinks, sees Batman’s slightly amused look, then seems to remember himself.  “My…A good friend of mine said that to me.” He brings a hand behind his head and looks away with a smile, “I try to live by it…if that wasn’t clear.”

Batman reminds himself again that he is looking at a robot, his mannerisms and tone leading him to forget that particular and very important fact.

“My name is Atom, by the way.” The boy adds, “That’s what he called me at least.”

“You’re still damaged, correct?” Atom nods, prompting Batman to continue, “I’m sure Dr. Palmer will offer to repair you further.” He takes a step to the computer and holds a button down, “Dr. Palmer, I need to see you in Interrogation room C.”

“Be right there,” comes the cordial reply.

Atom stares in disbelief for a moment, “But wait…that’s it?”

Batman turns back to Atom, regarding him with a neutral look, “No.  You’ve bought yourself some time, which is sometimes all that is needed for trust to be established.  Unfortunately, in my line of work, there is rarely time to build such relationships, and even rarer still that they endure over time.  You will stay here for the time being, seeing as I have work to do and I don’t trust you enough just yet to let you leave the Watchtower -- standard protocol of the Justice League when dealing with extraterrestrial or extradimensional beings.”  He walks back to the screens. “Eventually the League will have to make a decision about you. You have until then to convince me of your motives.”

Atom bows, “Right, thank you.”

Batman nods.  After a few moments of silence, Dr. Palmer enters.  Batman turns to Atom, “Wait here.” Then Batman leaves the room with Dr. Palmer following.  The Doctor gives the boy a smile before the door closes behind them.


	4. Should metal bodies dream of having souls? Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a good place to cut this one off until well over the 4000 mark, so consider this one a double-sized special!

Batman returns nearly an hour later, motioning the boy to follow.  As the two walk through the corridors, he asks, “So, Mr. Batman.”

“Just Batman.”

“Erm…Batman, why are you letting me stay? If you don’t mind me asking.”

    “I do.”  Something about his tone causes Atom slow down.

    “Oh, okay.” Atom finally replies and runs to catch up to Batman, who is already heading into an elevator.

    “You’ll be working with Dr. Palmer with the various maintenance tasks around the Watchtower.  Your actions will be monitored, so be on your best behavior.”

    “Of course!”

    Batman finds the reaction amusing, the enthusiasm of the boy reminding him of past days.  Those past days drive out his amusement.  The elevator door opens, “This is your floor, Dr. Palmer is in the third room on the right.  He’ll handle the rest of the details of your stay.”

    “Thank you again, Batman.  It’s been an honor meeting you.”  The elevator door shuts, leaving Atom to sigh and then turn to find the room mentioned.  He enters the room when he starts feeling a familiar weight on his limbs. _How long have I been awake?_ Looking around the small workshop and office, he quickly notes that Dr. Palmer is not in.  Atom walks to one of the chairs in front of the Doctor’s rather messy desk, filled with blueprints and mechanical maps and sticky notes and equations.  Atom moves his attention to the walls, not wanting to pry, where he sees the impressive number of degrees on the wall. Sure enough above the rest is his doctorate in physics.  He sits soon after, the walls not doing a great job of holding anyone’s attention for very long.

    His eyes start to droop, and Atom tries feebly to stay awake, but he falls asleep within a few seconds of sitting.  About two minutes later, Dr. Palmer enters, going straight to his desk to jot down a note. He sits for a moment before noticing the robot boy lying still in the chair across from him.  “Oh, you’re here,” the statement causes Atom to jerk to attention, “Batman said he’d be bringing you. I thought you’d be here a little sooner though.” Atom catches up quickly to the conversation and nods.  Dr. Palmer gives the boy a quizzical look before asking, “Were…were you sleeping?”

    Atom brings a hand behind his head, looking down slightly, “Sorry, I guess I haven’t had much chance to rest for a while.”

    “So do you enter sleep mode to conserve energy?  We can help you recharge if that’s what you need.”

    “My creator built me to be as human-like as possible.” Atom starts slowly.  He pauses, thinking back as far as his memories allow, recognizing how they become more and more fragmented the farther back he looks.  “My systems recharge or repair during periods of inactivity…or what everyone calls sleep.”

    “Do you need to replenish or replace your power cells every so often?” Dr. Palmer asks, trying to get a firmer grasp on this boy’s technology.

    The boy thinks, “Not replace, no.  I’ve had them replenished in emergencies before.  I try to avoid using that method if I can, since it puts a lot of strain on my systems.  I usually end up burning the energy faster in such cases.”

    Dr. Palmer closes his mouth, which was hanging slightly ajar as the robot explained, “So, you’re telling me that you run on renewable energy that your systems replenish themselves?”

    “Well…yeah.  Nuclear fusion, if you wanted a slightly more precise area to look at; though I’m still trying to figure out how Dr. Tenma was able to do it.”

    “You and me both, kid.” Ray makes a mental note of the name.

    “Atom.”

    “Yes?” Dr. Palmer looks at the boy, who smiles.

    “No no, I remembered my name.  My name is Atom.”

    “Oh!  I’m glad that you were able to figure that out.  Nice name, by the way, very fitting.” Dr. Palmer adds with a smile.  He leans back in his chair to reach a drawer. He pulls out a tablet and a card with Atom’s face on it.  Pointing to the former, he says, “This is a map of the Watchtower. It’s not complete, since there are areas that are restricted for regular employees to enter.  It’s yours to keep, but if you’re going to memorize it, then please bring this back so I can still give it to someone who needs it.” Atom nods as the Doctor continues, “This is your ID card, keep this on you at all times.  You will need this to get into any room with normal security. A retinal or hand-print scan may be required for some rooms, but those are typically needed for those restricted areas I mentioned earlier.”

    “This pass also holds a special code that allows you to get into your room.  Your room is on the same hallway as mine: here.” He points to the tablet, zooming in on a mid-level room flashing red.  “Granted, very few people consistently use their rooms on the Watchtower for any long length of time, many preferring to go back to Earth.”

    “Or staying up late working?” Atom cuts in quietly.

    Dr. Palmer laughs, “As is usually the case with me.  You got me pegged already. At any rate, I still have some work to do, but I know you need to recharge.  So I’m going to give you the next four shifts off in order for you to catch up and give you a little time to explore.  That means you have thirty-two hours to get acquainted with the place before I put you to work. I’ll have your uniform dropped by your room before your first shift starts.  You think you can…uh.” Ray pauses, noticing the boy once again asleep in the chair. “We’ll just take that as a sign that you need help finding your room for the moment.” He walks around his desk and picks the boy up with ease, Atom’s head resting on the man’s shoulder.

    Walking through the corridors and elevators to Atom’s (and his own) hallway, Dr. Palmer finds his mind trying to piece together what Atom is.  From a purely scientific standpoint, he knows that the boy in his arms is a robot mostly made of various metals and high-density plastics, and thus can’t be a human.  And yet he feels the robot’s even breaths on his neck. Why would a robot need to breathe, why would a robot sleep in such a way so as to emulate a sleeping child so closely?  The Doctor did not even dare enter into the robot’s eyes when he was trying to repair him just over one day ago, for they were easily the most human-like synthetic eyes he had seen.  And they function perfectly, they dart around the room and focus like any other eye. Atom’s hand movements and body gestures are flawless from what little he’s seen, as is the robot’s speech.

    But all these pale in comparison to the robot’s seeming command over its own will.  More observation will bear his suspicions out, but Dr. Palmer would put money on the impossibility of a robot having free will just from what Atom had shown him so far.  Thinking back, the fact that Batman, a fine interrogator and character analyst, to say the least, had allowed Atom to stay on the Watchtower speaks volumes of this robot boy’s capacity for rational thought.

    Then again, what better place to keep a potentially dangerous robot spy than where he can be closely monitored?

    Dr. Palmer enters Atom’s new room, placing the robot on the bed before leaving.  “At any rate, what happens next is up to you, Atom.”

-x-x-x-x-x-

    _Atom holds the crushed mainframe in his hands.  The man in front of him had been planning on using the escape pod to flee the scene, but Atom had eliminated that possibility.  He had caused this, so Atom wasn’t about to let the terrorist get off scott-free._

_The man stared at the robot boy, his body tense, wound as if ready to spring.  He was silent, his mouth open slightly, letting in breath after breath in even intervals.  The man didn’t speak._

_He only stares at Atom.  Atom says something._

_The man spins, running out the door into the depths of the cruiser.  Atom’s hearing picks up a very familiar sound coming from the door frame that the man had just passed.  Before Atom can react, the bomb explodes with more force than he had anticipated. As Atom tumbles out into the turbulence expected of a wormhole._

-x-x-x-

    Atom sits upright, eyes flashing open.  He looks about him, quickly calming down as he ensures that he is not in danger.  His memory informs him moments later of his current whereabouts and his ‘job,’ if he could call it that.

    He’s in a simple room furnished with a bed, desk, dresser, closet, and bathroom.  There is nothing else in the room that is noteworthy, except a light blue uniform that all non-league Watchtower personnel wear (large shorts clearly chosen to accommodate his red boots and a short-sleeve button-up shirt allowing access to his chest panel), the tablet and ID card that he received—five hours ago, and a note lying on the desk, which Atom picks up and reads.

    “Hey Atom,

Hope you had a good rest.  Feel free to explore until I call you.

    Dr. Palmer”

    Atom sits back down on the bed and thinks back.  He is happy to find that many of his memories have sorted themselves during his rest.   _I’ll have to thank Dr. Palmer for his repair work.  Last time something like this happened, my memory systems crashed entirely.  Then again, I guess falling through the atmosphere twice isn’t quite enough to formulate a normal trend for how my body can hold up to such strains._  Atom concentrated more on recent events, but unfortunately, aside from the memory that played before he awoke, he still couldn’t recall what had happened to get him into this dimension.

    Hopping off the bed, _No point in dwelling on it now_ , he puts on the uniform and walks to the door.  The door doesn’t open on its own, nor does it have a handle.  Remembering the ID card, Atom picks it up from the bed and, unbuttoning his shirt, stores it in his chest.  He takes a brief look at the tablet before deciding to leave it.  He walks to the door once more and this time the door opens automatically.

    To say the Watchtower is impressive is not giving it enough credit, as Atom discovers while exploring the facility.

    A quick scan reveals that the Watchtower is nuclear powered, providing enough power not only to keep the space station operational, but also to keep the cells that create the artificial gravity charged.  While admiring the technological achievement of the facility, he walks through the halls, acknowledging the workers with a smile and a small nod of his head. Some even stop to introduce themselves, which Atom happily reciprocates.

    He enters an elevator and “goes up.”  The Watchtower is shaped like a cone, the tip pointing toward Earth, thus making it the “downward” side.  Floors are arranged in rings which, at the wider part of the cone, are set inside each other and are connected by hallways laterally and stairs and elevators vertically.  The tip (the “bottom”) is mainly mechanical and electrical systems, with the Mechanical Repair Bay just above that. The Second Javelin Bay is housed above that, with the medical and scientific labs above that.  Employee rooms are above that followed by the Nuclear Power Systems. Above this is an area that Atom has trouble seeing, giving him the notion that it is where secret operations and information are kept. Above this is the Medical Bay, followed by the First Javelin Bay, then the training area, complete with gym, sparring room, simulation room, and more.  The common area and cafeteria are stations above that, which is below the rooms reserved for Justice League members. Finally the Command Center and Bridge sit at the “top” of the Watchtower.

    Atom finds himself walking through the halls of the training floor.  He passes by a weight room, in which he sees a woman with blonde hair, dressed in a black leotard, boots, and jacket, attacking a sandbag with surprising strength and skill.  He stops to watch as she moves from kick to kick to punch, jab, kick. His processors running simulations in his mind, he realizes that he can’t always predict which move she will use next.

    His sensors pick up a body approaching him _very_ fast.  He reacts, willing his body to move into a defensive position, but the man is already next to him before he has moved, leading to the boy seeming to jump just from this man’s appearance…which isn’t far from the truth anyway.

    “Don’t spend too much time staring kid, she’s already spoken for.”  The man says. The man is in red spandex with yellow accents, including a lightning bolt on his chest and two sticking out of his head mask.  “Haven’t seen you around before, I’m The Flash.” He holds out a hand.

    “Uh, I’m Atom.” He says, responding to the extended hand with his own.  His manners catch up to his shock and he continues, “I just started yesterday working for Dr. Palmer.  He’s given me the time to look around the Watchtower.”

    “Well, I was just headin’ to the cafeteria for some food, wanna come?”

    “Sure.” Atom nods.

    As the two walk to the elevator, Atom notices that The Flash is vibrating constantly, since his sensors keep alerting him between ‘approaching organism,’ ‘incoming object,’ and ‘minor seizure detected.’  Atom shakes his head, which only lowers the intensity in which his systems alert him. Before Atom can inquire the man in red about this phenomena, The Flash asks, “So are you the kid that came out of that wormhole a few days back?”  Atom nods, prompting Flash to continues, “I heard about you from GL, said you were a robot, that true?”

    Atom nods again, “That’s right.”

    “You don’t act much like a robot.”

    Atom brings a hand to his head with a pained expression, “Yeah, but I’m always reminded that I am one.”

    “You doin’ okay?”

    His sensors still going nuts, he starts to unbutton his shirt.  “I’ll be fine, my sensors are just acting up. What about you? Are you part of the Justice League?”

    “Man, you _are_ new.  You’re looking at one of the founding members my friend.”  Atom opens his chest panel, earning a gape from The Flash as the boy pressing a few small buttons, silencing the incessant alarm.  Atom scans the man, committing him and his qualities to memory. To the Flash the boy seems to be staring at him, faint lights sometimes flashing in his eyes.  “Dude, you’re creepin’ me out.”

    Atom blinks, reactivates his sensor alerts, happy to see them come up only once and then subsiding.  “Sorry” he says, closing his chest panel and buttoning up his shirt, “my sensors kept thinking you were either having a seizure or that you were an incoming ballistic missile.” Atom adds with a smile.

    The Flash laughs as the elevator door opens, “Sorry about that, but I can’t help being fast,” at which point he grabs Atom’s wrist and runs, the robot boy being dragged along.  They arrive at the cafeteria in less than two seconds. The Flash stops and Atom lands on his feet.

    “Wow, you _are_ fast!” Atom jumps in place a couple times.

    “You better believe it, short stuff.” The man looks around, then points, “Come on, we’ll sit over there.”

    The cafeteria is nothing spectacular aside from the view into space.  Two people sit at a round table that The Flash and Atom are walking toward.  One is a woman in a red and blue leotard with white stars and a golden ‘W’ across her chest.  Her long black hair is adorned with a golden headband. She is conversing easily with the other man, though calling him human is clearly incorrect.

    Aside from the green skin, his skull is oddly shaped and hair-less, though his solid red eyes are the most telling clue.  He is wearing a blue cape, boots and a red “X” across his chest. The man, for that seems to be an adequate enough term for him, turns to the two.  The woman turns as well, and opens her mouth to speak, but The Flash beats her to it. “J’onn! It’s good to see you!” he says, giving the man a hug, “How have you been?”

    “Good to see you too,” He gestures to the woman, “Diana and I just finished a mission.”

    “You should join us,” the woman adds.

    “You bet I will.  Oh wait, before I forget, Atom, this is Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter.  Guys, this is Atom.” The Flash pauses for a moment, “Wait a minute, Atom? As in A-T-O-M?”  Atom nods. “Okay, we’ve got to do something about that. We’ve already got three members with that in their name, ‘sides, I think I can come up with something better for ya.  Anyway, chow time!” The Flash finishes and races off to get some food.

    Wonder Woman speaks as they sit back down, “So you’re the child that Batman was talking about.”

    Atom scratches behind his ear with a smile, “Word must get around pretty quickly.  I haven’t been here _that_ long.”

    “That’s what happens when you nearly knock a space station out of orbit simply by waking up.” She adds with a smile, which Atom returns with a light laugh.  The Flash returns with his food: 37 cheeseburgers, 5 soft drinks, 6 bottles of water, and surely more hidden beneath the pile of food.

    “That’s…a lot of food.” Atom gawks as Flash seems to inhale 3 of the burgers.

    The Flash pauses and holds out a burger, “Want some?” he asks with his mouth full.

    “Oh, no thank you.”

    The Flash shrugs, “Suit yourself...oh right, robot.  You don't know what you're missing.”

"You'd be surprised." Atom replies.

    J'onn shakes his head at The Flash.  “You’re ability to eat so much so quickly still amazes me.”

    “Um, excuse me, Mr. Manhunter,” Atom starts, not particularly enjoying the name.

    “Please, call me J’onn.”

    “Okay, J’onn, you said you were from Mars.  Are there other people from other planets like you here?”

    “There aren’t many.  Orion comes to mind, he’s from the planet of New Genesis, though he is not often here at the Watchtower.”

    “Neither are you for that matter J’on.” Wonder Woman adds, “Sherya Hol, or Hawkgirl, is from a planet called Thanagar, and she also only helps on a part-time basis.”

    “To be fair, there are only a handful of full-time members in the league.”

    Atom chimes in, “Being an ambassador would be enough of a job anyway, I’m guessing that’s what a big part of what the Justice League does.”

    J’onn replies, “The Justice League acts in many ways, from disaster prevention and relief, witnessing and mediating peace negotiations, to enforcing the law where extra force is needed.”

    “I noticed that this facility is nuclear powered.  The technology is very impressive.”

    Wonder Woman nods, "It is true.  We have several benefactors that help to keep this place operational, though we do lease parts of it out for laboratory uses.”

    “It’s good to see such a powerful space station being used in such a productive way.”

    “Why do you say that?” J’onn asks.

    “Well, back where I come from, several countries and organizations have tried to achieve something like this.  I remember one building an orbital power plant that would then send the energy generated to cities on the surface.  But it became a target for a rival company and was destroyed. Luckily, no one was hurt.”

    “We have our enemies too,” Flash says between bites, “though not quite as many as we used to.”

    “While the first Watchtower was crashed into the Earth to prevent the planet’s destruction, this watchtower has been successfully infiltrated at least twice and has been hacked once.” J’onn states, his tone serious.

    Wonder Woman nods, “The hacking incident was nearly catastrophic, and since then, security measures have been bolstered to prevent such an event from ever happening again.  Despite everything, the people of Earth see the Watchtower as a beacon of hope. I can only pray that it continues to be seen as such.”

    Flash leans back, finished with his meal, “Ah, there’s always going to be those guys who try to spin us the wrong way.  I can’t imagine our popularity goin’ down like it did last time. But even if it does, we’ll just keep doing what we always do.”  The Flash stands up, “Well, I’ve gotta run. Kid, You’re gonna have a cool name here soon, so prepare yourself.”

    Atom smiles, “All right, I’ll see you later then.” And just like that, he’s gone.

    “So, Atom, what are your plans for the rest of the day?” Wonder Woman asks.

    “I’m not sure, Wonder Woman—“

    “Diana.”

    Atom nods, “I think I’ve finished exploring the place, at least everywhere I had access to.” Atom straightens in his seat and leans forward, “I couldn’t help but notice that there weren’t any robots here.  Are there any on Earth?”

    “I keep forgetting that you’re a robot.  You’re easily the most advanced one I’ve seen.  There are a few on Earth, but none are near your level of sophistication.”

    “What is your world like?” J’onn asks, “If you don’t mind me asking.”

    Atom leans back in his chair and after a pause chuckles and says, “Where do I begin?”

    J’onn answers, “Do you have a family?”  Diana raises an eyebrow at the Martian’s question.

    Atom sits up once more and focuses on J’onn, studying him for a moment before replying, “That’s a strange question to ask a robot.”  Diana, after a brief flash of anger, leans back, watching both of them.

    “And yet you are no ordinary robot.” J’onn answers calmly.

    Atom smiles, “Can’t argue against that.  I was created by Dr. Tenma who was the Head of the Ministry of Science of Japan.  I was deactivated for a while until the next Head of the Ministry of Science reactivated me.  His name is Dr. Ochanomizu. He’s been very kind to me, and is my first true friend that I remember.  He created a Mother and Father robot and a home in which we could all live in. Then he made another robot based on my design and Dr. Tenma’s notes, who became my little sister, Zoran.”

    “What do you do from day-to-day?”

    “I help out the Ministry with various issues that come up that I can handle better than others can.”

    “Like what?” Diana asks.

    “Well,” Atom pauses, “Many of them are environmental issues, helping put out forest fires or recovering from major earthquakes, though I’ve been on several satellite repair teams, deep-sea and underground exploration teams.  I’ve also been on a few diplomatic assignments, either between companies or countries or just different groups within the city. I also have a lot of requests from the police, particularly when more dangerous weapons are involved.”

    Diana’s eyes widen as the list continues, “You must be powerful then, not to mention versatile, to be able to handle so many different situations.”

    “I suppose you could say that, though Dr. Palmer is still repairing me.  Even at my best, I’m certainly not the strongest robot where I come from, nor am I suited for everything.” Atom chuckles, “If I needed to talk to a lion, I’d have to grab my sister.”

    “So robots are common where you come from?” Diana leads.

    Atom nods, “Definitely, though most are not as strong as me, many are advanced enough in terms of AI that robot rights and equality are still being pushed in legislation around the world.  My country was one of the first to pass a law ensuring human and robot equality.” Atom leans back, reminiscing, “That was a good day.”

    “That’s truly incredible.  The only true robot here with intelligence like yours is Red Tornado, but my understanding is that his rationality stems from a wind spirit, not from his own technology.” Diana ponders.

    J'onn, who had largely kept his eyes on Atom, turns to Diana, “The animating principle of any living thing does not stem from the body itself.  I suspect that,” he turns back to the robot boy, “he still has a soul which gives him his life and rationality, not because of his impressive technology, but due to some other immaterial cause.”

    As Atom is stunned by the Martian’s words, Diana nods, “That’s true, I suppose that the technology of a robot would just be what the body is for any living thing.  But then the question becomes what is that immaterial cause?”

    “Wait…” Atom stops them, “You think that I have a soul?”

    “There you are Atom,” Dr. Palmer calls as he approaches the table.  Atom turns and nods briefly at Dr. Palmer and then looks back to Jo’nn, “Hopefully I’m not interrupting anything.”

“No no,” Diana replies, “please join us if you have a moment.” Atom’s shoulders droop feeling guilty for his lapse in manners.

    “I think I have enough time.” The doctor takes a seat.

    “Perhaps you can give us your opinion on this matter.” Diana continues, “You’ve been working with Atom to recover, correct?”

    “So far.  Though it’s getting to the point where Atom’s technically doing more than I am.  His auto-repair systems are simply incredible.”

    “In your observations, have you been able to study any of his programming?”

    Dr. Ray Palmer was silent for a moment, stealing a glance Atom before answering, “To be honest, I have encountered very little programming…at least, not any which I have been able to understand in the time that I’ve studied it, which is less than a week, may I remind you.  At first I thought it was junk data, but then I noticed patterns and commands that suggested a deeper structure. To be sure I’d have to devote quite a bit more time into analyzing it.”

    “From what you’ve seen,” J'onn interjects, “could someone have had the talent to program at such a level?”

    “If a person did program Atom, he could only be a genius or a mad man, or both, I suppose.”

    The three heroes continue to discuss Atom’s structure and composition before shifting to other topics such as upcoming missions and such, during which time Atom ponders the question himself, as he has many times.

    _“Atom is more than just a robot, he has kokoro – a mind, a spirit, a soul – He thinks for himself and has feelings.  You can’t treat him any less than you would anyone else.”_

_“Robot rights, PAH!  Robots picked up the ridiculous notion somewhere on the assembly line, that because they're beginning to look and act more and more human-like, they're just like us.  Well guess what, they aren’t!”_

_“I’m not sure that one could say that robots, even those with advanced AI, have souls like human beings do.  Scientists have a strong grasp of how the human body works, and yet the cause of that initial spark, that thing that turns a bundle of organized cells into a human person, is still unknown to those in the scientific field.  On the other hand, robots are never so advanced that they act in a way that could not be foreseen.”_

_“There will always be those things that push the boundaries of their category.  For example, the Venus Fly Trap is a plant that traps insects for extra nourishment, very unlike most other plants.  But, though they push the boundaries, no one says that the Venus Fly Trap is an animal, nor that a monkey is a man. The same must be said of Atom, he is a robot first, anything else can be traced back to that.”_

    “Hey Atom,” Dr. Palmer starts, causing Atom to snap out of his thoughts, “I’d like to give you a personal tour of the Watchtower, particularly where you are going to be working while you are staying here.  Are you ready to go?”

    “Oh, uh, yeah.” He stands and bows to J'onn and Diana, “Thank you very much for talking with me.”

    “It was a pleasure, Atom.” Diana replies.

    “I look forward to seeing you again.” J'onn adds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading.


	5. Should metal bodies dream of having souls? Part 2

The two leave the cafeteria and head to the elevators.  “Well, Atom, it seems you’ve impressed a few people already in your short time here.”

“I didn’t really do much.  I just talked with them.”

“With how much action happens on a daily basis around here, a chance to just sit and talk with someone means more to us than you might think.”

Atom nods, “Yeah, I can understand that.”  As the two continue on, Atom finds himself reflecting again, not particularly paying attention as the doctor leads him through areas that he had already explored.  It is perhaps because he was not paying particular attention that he is able to hear a faint rhythmic pulse. Atom brings his hand to his ear to increase its receptivity.  Even with his hearing increased by one thousand times, pinpointing the strange sound proves to be difficult. However, he is able to pick it out for one reason:

“Doctor?” Atom begins to ask, forgetting his manners (again) in his interruption.  Dr. Palmer stops and listens, prompting Atom to continue. “How many other robots like me are there?”

“I would say none, I've never see--”

“No no, I mean robots that can walk and talk and maybe even think.”

“Well,” Dr. Palmer stops to think, “I'd have to say Red Tornado.  There aren't any others, at least here on the Watchtower.”

The sound Atom is hearing, a wavering high-pitched tone that could only be given by electricity running at regular, but inconsistent levels, he recognizes as very similar to robotic movement and general processes (which have a very different sound than just “robotic” machinery).  Though this type of sound is a little different from what he's usually heard, he’s definitely hearing more than one. But Dr. Palmer claims that there is only one other. Atom knows enough not to assume that the Doctor is wrong, he knows that he is missing some important piece of information.  So Atom resolves to do one of the things that he does best: tell the truth.

“I'm sensing more than that Doctor.”

Dr. Palmer keeps calm, but Atom notices the slight tensing of the man's shoulders. “Really?” Bringing a hand to his chin, he thinks, “Are you sure they are robots like yourself?”

“They sound like them...at least from this far away.”

“Do you think you can find them?  I have a theory.” Atom nods and takes the lead, expertly threading through the corridors of the Watchtower with an air of practiced ease, despite having only just arrived on the large space station.  Soon enough, the two see a tall red man emblazoned with golden “T”s.

“Hello Atom,” Red Tornado greets, regarding Dr. Palmer. “How do you fare?”

“Doing well, thank you.  If you have a moment, I'd like to introduce to you Atom.”

“So he does have the same name, I was fearing that I had misheard.” Extending a hand to the boy-robot, “It's a pleasure to meet such a brilliant work of technology such as yourself.”

“Thank you, it’s good to see another robot again.”

“We may seem similar, but as a wind spirit living in this body, I cannot relate too much to 'being a robot' as it were.  A common misconception. Being able to be put back together again is very helpful though.”

“I’d say.” Atom replies.

“By the way, Red,” Dr. Palmer starts, “You are set for a tune-up soon, correct?”

“In two days, yes.”

“Excellent.  I have some upgrades that you might enjoy.  Studying Atom here has really given me some new ideas.”

Atom brings a hand behind his head, “You're figuring out a lot of it on your own, Doctor.”

“At any rate, Atom, can you still hear the other signals?” The boy nods, “Well, I'll see you then, Red Tornado.”

Atom bows before walking off, Doctor Palmer following close after.  With Red Tornado registered in his databanks, he starts to pinpoint two other sources of the sound.  What concerns him is that one is weaker than the other. Without visual confirmation, he couldn't tell if it was a small robot, or one just about to run out of energy.  Being unsure about the state of the weaker signal, he makes his way to the stronger of the two, heading down to the gym where he had seen the woman in black from before.  

“Ah, I had a feeling this might be the case.” Dr. Palmer states as the two walk past the sparring room into the weight room. 

The gym, especially for being in space, is state-of-the-art and much larger than one would think at first glance.  Like most large rooms in the Watchtower, the whole complex is curved, following the natural conical shape of the station itself.  There are two access hallways into the gym, one leads to the sparring room, which provides some weights for lifting, but is mainly used for the sandbag in the corner and the two mats for close-quarters combat.  Going through the door opposite the hallway leads to a more traditional weight room, though the room is definitely geared to people of all strength levels. Aside from the benches and machines that most would associate with a weight room, to the side sits a large machine that looks as if it could flatten cars with relative ease, which of course would be what those with super-strength could use to train if needed.  Continuing on through this room would lead one to the simulation chamber, which is connected to the aerobic room, which finally connects to the other hallway.

Atom, wondering what the doctor meant, sees a robot doing maintenance on the super-heavy weight machine.  It is humanoid in shape, and the metal gleams with silver in some places and blue in others. The design and structure of the robot seems to imply one that is more fit for battle than maintenance.

Before he can continue analyzing any further, Dr. Palmer calls to it, “Excuse me, Vic, do you have a moment?”

“Be right with ya.” A young man’s voice responds with ease.  Seconds later, there is a ‘clink’ of a panel closing, and the man stands up and turns to face them.  Atom’s assessment that the robot is more meant for battle is affirmed by the noticeable armor that the torso and legs sported, but what stopped Atom short was the robot’s face.  Nearly half of the face was metal with one glowing red eye. The other was dark-skinned flesh and a clearly organic eye. “What’s up, Ray?” the man sees Atom, “Who’s the kid?”

Dr. Palmer chuckles, “This is Atom, he’s the robot that was just revived recently.  Atom, this is Cyborg. I had a feeling that if you were picking up robotic signals, Victor here might be on that radar.”

Atom bows, “Nice to meet you, Cyborg.”

“Call me Vic.  All this codename stuff has been gettin’ old for a while now.”

“Victor is a cyborg, if you hadn’t already guessed,” Dr. Palmer raps his fist against the armor plating on Vic’s arm.  “The only human parts of him left are his brain, part of his heart, and what you see of his face. That means that the rest of the 94% of him is robotic.”

“Courtesy of Star Labs.” Cyborg adds, “Dr. Palmer helped my dad build this body for me when he was working there.”

Atom can’t help but get excited, “Are you normally on the Watchtower?”

“Not quite, I’m still runnin’ with the Titans down in Jump City.  But Ray’s still one of the best tech-heads out there. ‘Sides, who wouldn’t want to spend some time in a space station?  I’m tryin’ to convince Robin that having at least a connection with the League is a good idea, but that stubborn spiky-haired runt hasn’t budged yet.” Vic sighs, “Whatever, he’ll come around eventually.”

“I take it that the SHW machine is up and running again?” Dr. Palmer asks.

“That’s right.  Thought I might as well check it while I was here.  Just needed some clean up and recalibration. Star Labs knows how to make their stuff last, I should know.”

“How much weight can it simulate?” Atom asks.

Vic smiles, “Smart kid.  The pressure that this thing can give is equivalent to around 10,000 kilograms.”

“Can I give it a try?”

“Uh…you sure you can handle it?”

“No.” Atom states politely, “I want to know how much I can handle right now as I continue my repairs.” He steps beneath the large weight, “could you start with 500 and then steadily increase it until I say to stop?”

“Alright,” Vic replies, not convinced, “I’m spotting though, I think life as a robotic pancake would be pretty rough.” 

Atom chuckles, “Yeah, you couldn’t go to breakfast anymore.  They might want to eat you.”

“Ready?” Atom nods, prompting Cyborg to start the pressure, “starting at 500 kilos.”  Atom raises his arms and braces himself, catching the heavy load easily and holding strong.  “Not bad, kid, increasing weight.” In increments of 50 kilograms every three seconds, Atom holds his own for almost two minutes.

“Okaystop.” Atom calls out before he buckles.  Dr. Palmer observes the robot boy stumble off the machine, shaking and flexing his limbs, even seeming to catch his breath.  As if the doctor’s perception of Atom wasn’t complicated enough, watching him here triggered another clash of information. In the body of a boy, but still a robot, Atom just lifted a ton and a half, and is shrugging it off like a trained professional, but he shouldn’t need to recover like one.  “How’d I do?” Atom asks.

“Not bad, little man,” Vic waves him over to the read out and slaps him on the back. “2,300 kilos.  You’re a little powerhouse! There must be some impressive tech in that body of yours.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still not at one hundred percent.  Dr. Palmer, do you think I can come back here from time to time to see how my strength’s recovering?”

Dr. Palmer blinks, catching up, “Oh, uh, sure.  I’ll add it to your access privileges. You’ll need someone with you to be able to operate this machine though.”

“Thank you, Doctor.  I’ll be sure to remember that.”

“Well Vic, we’d better continue on.  How long are you going to be here?”

“I’ll be stayin’ for a little while yet, then I’m going back to the Titans Tower.”

“Are you going to be back?” Atom asks.

“Heck yeah, a walkin’ talkin’ boy robot?  I gotta keep in touch with you. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Atom smiles in a way that only a child can when told that he’s going to the amusement park the next day. “Great.” He then bows and walks to catch up with Dr. Palmer, who had started to leave.

“See you later, Vic.” Dr. Palmer calls back as they exit the room.

-x-x-x-

Going into the elevator, Dr. Palmer asks Atom, “So, do you still hear the last signal?”

Atom nods, “I’ve been a little worried about this one.  The signal is really weak.”

“Well, lead away.”

“Little hard to do in an elevator, Doctor.” Atom replies with a smile.

He pushes the boy’s head, “You know what I mean.” The two share a chuckle before Atom turns to the buttons to open the door on the next floor.  In relation to the station, they’ve descended to the central levels, which Atom notes must be used for research and development, since there were sections that he couldn’t scan properly.  Then again, there are plenty of reasons to line walls with lead.

Atom stops in front of a reinforced door with a multiple security clearance scanner: ID Card, hand print, and retinal scan.  A quaint sign is posted on the door like a joke, ‘Authorized Personnel Only.’

“It’s inside.” Atom states.

“hm.  You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

Dr. Palmer crosses his arms and thinks for a moment before responding, “I don’t know what you’re sensing, but I can’t take you in there.”

Atom puts his hand on the door, “I know Doctor.  But…” 

Dr. Palmer watches the boy robot place his forehead on the door, and a few moments later, Atom asks, “Do you know what could be giving off this signal?”

“I can’t say for sure, Atom, but I have a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to tell you even if I did know.”

“Is anything being done about it?”

“Again Atom, I don’t know.”

At this Atom turns to face the Doctor.  “Can you help him, Doctor?” Atom  _ pleads _ .  

Once again, Dr. Palmer is stunned by the rush and the clash of information, of the knowledge that the boy is a robot to the fact that this child had just asked him to help someone, that he could apparently sense someone  _ in need  _ of help.  He is a Scientist Hero, an analytical thinker with more degrees than he cares to mention with a strong sense of justice and social service.  And while he’s experienced this tension before, the scientist in him is working against the hero in him in the last place he would have thought.  Through all this, the Doctor can only get out, “What do you mean?”

He turns to face the door again, “I couldn’t tell before, but the signal I’m getting is not just the ones that are sent out from normal operations.  It’s a message, thoughts transmitted in modified reflected binary. Just standing here, my brain is struggling to not only pick up the signal but then decode, rearrange and translate the information.” Atom shakes his head, “I used to be so good at this…but now I’m—I can barely keep up.  But whoever is sending this signal,” He looks back to Dr. Palmer, “They’re suffering, Doctor.”

The Doctor can’t help but stare.  The boy’s face—the robot’s face, the tone, the words and the meaning behind them, the inflection and nuance, and even the body language: hands tense from fist to relaxed in time with increases in intensity, the shoulders slump with resignation, tense with frustration, everything is  _ natural _ .  Natural movements and reactions from…

Reactions?  No, no, that is the real shock, happiness and sadness, maybe, but regret?  Longing? Compassion? These are not only complex emotions that imply a host of others, but are also completely outside the realm of any artificial intelligence that he’s ever seen.

J’onn’s question not only rings in his head, but now makes sense.  

_ “Could someone have had the talent to program at such a level?” _

No.  

And yet here he is, standing about a foot-and-a-half shorter than him.  A child asking for help, for the sake of someone else. Even a robot can see injustice if programmed in a certain way, but no robot has ever felt a  _ need _ to help someone else.  Where is the cold-efficiency, where are the processes?

The simple jokes that he’s made, they weren’t all that funny, but they fit the connections that a child could make and the disconnections that all jokes need.  What could he be sensing? He mistook Vic as a robot, could he be hearing--

“Doctor?” Atom asks, cutting through Dr. Palmer’s thoughts, “You—you need to sit down.” Atom grabs the man’s hand and gently starts to push him and the walls are spinning, blurring…just like the scientist in me to feel dizzy from an amazing anomaly.  Pull it together, Ray!

The Doctor shakes his head, takes a deep breath and stands straight, “Atom,” his tone causing Atom to pay attention, “You’re going to have to give me time.  I only have a theory as to what you may be referring to, but again, I do not have the authority to share that information.”

“But,” he starts to protest but catches himself.  He opens his mouth to say something more, but the Doctor cuts him off.

“You still have over twenty hours before you begin work.  I suggest you go to the bridge and speak with Mr. Terrific.  He’ll provide good company and may even give you some advice on what you could do next, he may even have some ideas about how to get you back home.  As for me, I have to get back to work. I’ve got a few meetings to make and I’ve got to finish processing the forms for your temporary employment here.”

Atom sighs, “Oh, okay.”

“Can you find your way to the bridge on your own?”

“Yeah.” 

“Excellent.  See you later Atom.” 

“See ya, Doctor.”

The Doctor walks a few steps before turning back to say, “Don’t worry about it for now, Atom.  You focus on getting your bearings, Okay?”

Atom smiles back to the man, “You too, Doctor.”  Ray chuckles and continues on his way, leaving Atom at the door.  The signal still ringing in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. The start of School has made things hectic. I hope to have a more consistent update schedule.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Thank you for the feedback ArchanyAngel!


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